Hardison and Goldilocks
by LynnLoVeHP
Summary: Hardison wakes up and he's not alone. Somebody's been using his window, eating his food, and sleeping on his couch. One-shot!


Disclaimer!- I don't own the characters or the show just borrowing them for my little fic.

I've been itching to write a new Leverage story and this is what came to mind. I'm not sure if this was in character, but it's an idea I had so I wrote it out. Hope you like it! Also the quote in italics is taken from the show and isn't mine! It's from the episode The Grave Danger Job.

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I went over the events of today in my head, as I laid in bed with bunny. I almost lost him forever.

"_Hardison, you have to make it through this, because, because your my friend, and I need you. Do you hear me Alec? I need you!_" the words I said earlier rang through my head. Friend? He was much more than that wasn't he? I couldn't stand the thought of losing him for good. I needed to tell him the truth. But what exactly was the truth? Every time I tried talking to him about what I was feeling _pretzels_ came out instead of _you_. Why do feelings have to be so damn complicated for me?

Ilove him!

Wait, _I love him_. Of course! That's what all these feelings are leading me too. I'm in love with him. I should be able to tell him that! Jumping off a building, easy. Telling Alec I can't live without him, impossible. Maybe I should ask Sophie. She's goodat talking about feelings, she could help me out.

I decided I'd go see her only to come up empty when I got to her place. I realized she must be sleeping over at Nate's because this type of stuff, feelings, relationships, came easy for her. I needed to talk to someone but the only other person I could think of to ask was the person causing all these weird feelings.

Without thinking too much about it, I found myself walking towards Hardison's apartment. When I got there I climbed through the window easily and found him sound asleep in his bed. His face looked so peaceful, even after what happened today. My heart started beating fast, damn those stupid feelings!

This was a mistake, I shouldn't have come here. I can't tell him! What was I thinking? I tried leaving through the window, the same way I came in, but it was jammed. I started to sneak past him in an attempt to leave the bedroom and look for another window to climb out of or, worst case scenario I could actually use his door.

As I was mentally fighting with myself on escape routes, I noticed he stirred in bed causing me to freeze where I was. I looked over at him, making sure he was asleep before I moved again.

"Parker." He murmured. I panicked, thinking he caught me, but he just rolled over on his pillow. "Parker." He said again. I realized he was just having a dream about me. As curious as I was, I decided to stay and eavesdrop. I stayed for an hour longer then I should have, waiting, hoping, for him to say something else. I stayed, wanting to hear him say my name again.

I was getting tired myself, but I didn't want to go back to the storage place I called home. I found an extra pillow and blanket in a hall closet and decided to crash on his couch. I'd wake up before him and put everything back before he'd realize I was even here. I dozed off as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was so exhausted.

I woke up to the smell of pancakes. It dawned on me that I wasn't at my place. I remembered sneaking into Hardison's apartment last night. I also remembered I told myself I had to wake up and be gone before he was up. There was no chance of that happening now, so I walked into the kitchen searching for him.

"Hey" I said when I spotted him by the stove.

"Hey yourself." He replied back, flipping the pan in his hand.

"Are you mad?" I asked worried he would be.

"Mad, No. Confused and curious as hell, yes. I went to bed last night alone, and woke up with an unexpected guest on my couch." He told me.

"I'm sorry." I replied.

"Don't be, you're always welcomed here Mama. Just, a little heads up next time, okay?" He said.

"Okay." I replied. I sat down at the tiny breakfast bar he had and watched him cook.

"So, do you want to tell me why you crashed here last night?" He asked, glancing over at me.

"I don't know. I needed to talk to Sophie, she's always so good at helping me understand the moods that I have, but she wasn't there. So I thought, why not just go to you, I mean you're the one that's causing them, surely you'd be able to help. Then I got here and you were asleep. I didn't want to wake you up, so I tried leaving but the window was jammed so I went to find another one, but before I could leave you started saying my name so I couldn't leave. So I watched you sleep for a bit which made me tired, but I didn't want to go home. So I thought I could just crash on your couch and wake up before you did and leave, pretending I was never here. Except you woke up before me, ruining my plans." I informed him. He just looked at me crazy and confused. He didn't say anything, instead he just turned back to the stove.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" He asked, turning back to look at me, happy with the rate the food was cooking.

"Pretzels." I confessed. I tried to think of what Sophie would say, the truth.

"Pretzels? Now are we talking about the salty snack, or the other thing?" He asked.

"The other thing." I told him. Then I took a deep breath and blurted, "I don't want to lose you, I can't."

His eyes widened, surprised by my outburst. "You don't have to." He said. He walked over, wrapping his arms around me, giving me a tight squeeze. We stayed embraced in each other's arms, neither one of us wanting to move. Unfortunately, the breakfast he made was burning so he had to. He put the pancakes on two plates, drenching them in syrup. He pulled orange juice out of the fridge and offered me some. After we ate we moved to the couch to watch an old favorite movie of his, _The Italian Job_. Halfway through it I dozed off, not having gotten much sleep last night. I woke up later when the credits were rolling, curled up to Hardison side.

"I didn't think the movie was that bad." He joked. He didn't move to push me off him, so I stayed where I was. We stayed in his apartment the rest of the day watching movies on his couch. By the time night rolled around I realized I'd have to go home. I didn't intend on staying so long, I hadn't packed extra clothes. Hardison, realizing it too, offered me an oversized T-shirt and boxer shorts that I could borrow. He showed me to the bathroom, handing me a towel before leaving. I stripped off my dirty clothes and got in. The hot water felt nice against my sore skin. I grabbed his shampoo, lathering and rising out my hair. By the time I got out, I smelled like a Hardison replica. I emerged from the bathroom with my towel and clothes balled up in my hands. Luckily he had a washer and dryer unit in his apartment so I could wash my clothes here. By the time I had the load started, throwing in a few things of his, he came out of his bedroom in a plain white shirt and flannel pajama bottoms. When he saw me, he looked speechless. His jaw dropped, he swallowed trying to get ahold of himself.

"What?" I asked self-conscious.

"That shirt looks so much better on you than it ever did on me." He replied. I looked down, smiling to myself. My heart was beating fast again at the sight of him. These feelings weren't just going to go away as I thought.

"I made the bed up for you." He informed me.

"What, don't be silly. It's your home, the couch is fine." I assured him.

"Seriously Parker, it's okay. Take the bed." He pushed.

"We could share it." I suggested.

"S-share it?" He stuttered.

"Yeah, like two friends having a sleepover." I replied.

"Right. Are you sure?" He asked.

"Come on." I said walking to his room. We got in bed. I could tell he was nervous, unsure of what to do. He was a few inches away from falling off when I told him to move closer, promising not to bite. When he did as told I moved to snuggle up to him. I could tell he wasn't expecting it, but he wasn't upset by it either. He relaxed and let go of the air he was holding in.

"I love you." I mumbled drifting off.

"I love you too." He whispered, kissing my forehead. That night I slept better than I had any other time of my life. I felt safe and secure with his arms wrapped around me. There was no place I'd rather be.

_Some time later in the year. . ._

I was okay with the way I felt about Alec, I even told him as much. I realized something the first time I spent the night at Hardison's; I didn't like sleeping alone. Within a month all of my things slowly made their way into his apartment. I had cabinets in his kitchen for all my cereal, three drawers in his dresser for my clothes, and space in his closet for all my gear. Bunny took up permanent residence on his bed. Soon the things around us weren't just his things and mine, they were ours.

It was as we were getting home from a case that I realized I had worried over nothing. I shouldn't have been afraid of what I was feeling for him, I should have just let those feelings in. Because Hardison, he was a good guy. I knew he'd always have my back just as well as he knew I'd always have his.

"Do you want to watch _The Italian Job_?" He asked, breaking me away from my thoughts.

I nodded my head. "Sure, I never did get to see the ending. I'll get the pretzels." I told him, grabbing a bowl from the kitchen and filling it to the top with the salty snack. Because popcorn, it was overrated.

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Please comment and review, thanks!


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